Heart of Darkness Writing Style

Verbose, Poetic, Introspective

Conrad’s prose is a difficult animal to wrestle. It seems long-winded and tedious, but is surprisingly poetic. (Check out the iambic meter in the description of Kurtz’s African mistress.) Although Heart of Darkness is rather short, it seems like a long read because there is surprisingly little action. The text is very cerebral – that is, much of it happens inside Marlow’s head. We get to hear his thoughts. This helps Conrad make readers think about the larger questions within the novel – about the nature of obsession, ambition, darkness, and madness. Indeed, readers may notice that Conrad tends to abstract often, focusing not on the concrete details of Marlow's journey up the Congo River, but instead on his wandering thoughts and his deep, almost philosophical digressions. This makes for rather slow reading; one has the sensation of wading through the text, but it establishes a strangely charming rhythm that haunts and echoes in the reader’s mind. The rhythm is what makes Conrad’s writing so deeply affecting.